Pearl Group

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Software major TCS, slower to get on the acquisition trail, is making up for lost time. It bought a 75% stake in its Swiss partner TKS-Teknosoft for CHF 110.5m (Rs 362 crore). The deal is valued at 1.4 times the revenue of the company, which markets and sells services and products of TCS. The acquisition gives TCS a presence in the key markets of Switzerland and France, and expands its product portfolio in banking and financial services. It would get rights to Quartz and ownership of Alpha and e-portfolio ?

Software major TCS, slower to get on the acquisition trail, is making up for lost time. It bought a 75% stake in its Swiss partner TKS-Teknosoft for CHF 110.5m (Rs 362 crore). The deal is valued at 1.4 times the revenue of the company, which markets and sells services and products of TCS. The acquisition gives TCS a presence in the key markets of Switzerland and France, and expands its product portfolio in banking and financial services. It would get rights to Quartz and ownership of Alpha and e-portfolio ?

MUMBAI: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is evaluating a bid for UK-based BPO company Vertex and has got a foreign currency rating from Moody's Investors Service in preparation for the takeover. Vertex has a revenue of £405 m and is majority owned by United Utilities (UU). TCS may raise a foreign currency debt issue for funding the buy. Last month, TCS had acquired an A3 issuer rating and an indicative foreign currency debt rating of Baa1 from Moody's. This was probably the first time that a software services company applied and got a rating done and it was done keeping this acquisition in mind.

The last few weeks have been witness to a barrage of positive news emanating from India's largest IT service companies, most notably TCS. Just weeks after a much hyped order from ABN Amro which also involved IBM and Infosys, TCS announced a blockbuster $847 million dollar deal with UK based insurance and pensions firm, Pearl Group. And soon after, they followed up with news of the $26 million acquisition of Financial Network Services, an Australian financial services firm. Further, all the three majors ?

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the country's largest software exporter , said fraud charges against one of its clients, Goldman Sachs , will not affect business, but if the probe spreads to others, it may. "Our revenue exposure to Goldman is negligible," chief financial officer S Mahalingam told ET. "There would not be any direct impact . But it needs to be seen whether the issue would have any broader ramifications on some...

The ITeS pecking order has changed little over the past five years. Genpact, which was spun out of GE, remains perched on top, with $1.12 billion in revenues. Most of the other players are jockeying for other positions. But there's a 1,000-pound gorilla that has come from nowhere to climb to the number three position, and could well unseat TCS was formed as a BPO company, providing technology helpdesk services to

NEW DELHI: TCS' acquisition of UK-based Vertex is reportedly held up due to differences over valuations. TCS, which is interested in Vertex to help ramp up its BPO business, has been in negotiations with United Utilities, the owners of Vertex, for over three months now. According to sources, TCS is asking for a discount (to the revenue multiple) over what United paid to acquire 14.6% stake in Vertex from Capgemini in '04. That time United had paid $65m to acquire the 14.6% stake, at a revenue multiple of 0.89.

NEW DELHI: TCS' acquisition of UK-based Vertex is reportedly held up due to differences over valuations. TCS, which is interested in Vertex to help ramp up its BPO business, has been in negotiations with United Utilities, the owners of Vertex, for over three months now. According to sources, TCS is asking for a discount (to the revenue multiple) over what United paid to acquire 14.6% stake in Vertex from Capgemini in '04. That time United had paid $65m to acquire the 14.6% stake, at a revenue multiple of 0.89.

Tata Consultancy Services , the country's largest software exporter , said fraud charges against one of its clients Goldman Sachs , will not affect business , but if the probe spreads to others, it could. "Our revenue exposure to Goldman is negligible," chief financial officer S Mahalingam told ET. "There would not be any direct impact. But it needs to be seen whether the issue would have any broader ramifications on some of our other clients. " TCS earns less than 1% of its revenue from the most profitable investment bank in the world.

NEW DELHI: Domestic third-party business process outsourcing (BPO) outfits have been on a buying spree this year — picking up at least 10 companies around the world, up from less than half-a-dozen in 2004. And this trend will get bigger in 2006. Says Ananda Mukerji, managing director & CEO, ICICI OneSource, "Today the industry is doing more complex tasks in claims processing, mortgage, analytics. Clients wants to know what else can we do, driving vendors to acquire companies overseas.